Passengers leave as Sharjah airport rectifies scanner glitch

Dubai: Many passengers were stuck at Sharjah International Airport early yesterday morning due to a technical glitch in the iris scanners.

Relatives said passengers were stranded in long queues at immigration with no food, water or cash while airport officials were waiting for a team from Abu Dhabi to fix the glitch.

A source at the Sharjah International Airport told Gulf News the machines were now working and that passengers who had completed the iris scan had started to leave the airport.

"The eye-scanning machines were down from Abu Dhabi Police," he said. The source said passengers were stuck at the airport until 1.30pm while a team from Abu Dhabi worked on solving the problem.

The machines are used to scan the eyes of passengers who are entering the country on visit visas and tourist visas.

Major General Nasser Al Awadi Al Menhali, Director General for Naturalisation and Residency, told Gulf News that there was a glitch in the iris scan machines of the Sharjah International Airport yesterday morning. "This glitch caused delays at the airport for about two hours. The ministry corrected the problem after its team of technical experts was sent to fix the issue and movement of passengers was restored to normal within a few hours," he added.

"Air Arabia has provided the stranded passengers with meals while Pakistan International Airlines did not provide any meals," the source said.

Lack of communication

Dinesh, a Dubai resident, said his elderly parents were due to arrive from India at 6.20am but at 2pm they had not been released from the Immigration queue.

Relatives and friends of passengers voiced frustration over what they claimed was a lack of communication by authorities.

"There is no update about what's happening… A lot of people came in on [their] own without money or local currency and no food since 6am and the airport authorities are not helping out, there is no plan B," Dinesh said.

The Hala service, a meet-and-greet airport facility he had booked for his parents, confirmed that there was an issue with the iris scanners, he added. Others not signed up with the service had no clue about the reason for the delay.

"The airlines have no clue, they said to ask immigration and immigration has no clue. Police officials said things will be resolved in 15 minutes," he said. "It's just shocking that no one has a plan."

His parents said passengers were lying on the floor, tired after hours of queuing and sleep-deprivation.

Jay Krishnan, another Dubai resident, waited for his parents' 6am flight from India to arrive but wasted most of his work day at the airport.

The Hala services he booked for his parents provided them with some seating.

"Other passengers are just lying in queue, they cannot stand, it's too long not to be provided with food and water," he said.

"This is totally irresponsible behaviour. They're not keeping us informed properly," he added.